Vehicles and structures burn off of Highway 138 as the Blue Cut Fire rages through San Bernardino County Tuesday August 16, 2016. The fire has scorched at least 18,000 acres and forced 82,000 people to evacuate their homes in San Bernardino County

Firefighters battle the Bluecut Fire along Cajon Boulevard in the Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino, California, Tuesday August 16, 2016.

Firefighters battle a fire on Cajon Blvd in the Cajon Pass Tuesday August 16, 2016.

Firefighters battle a the Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass Tuesday August 16, 2016.

Firefighters battle a the Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass Tuesday August 16, 2016.

Firefighters battle a the Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass Tuesday August 16, 2016.

The vegetation surrounding a home near Highway 138 burns threatening the structure during the Blue Cut Fire August 16, 2016 in the Devore Pass area north of San Bernardino, California.

Firefighters battle a the Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass Tuesday August 16, 2016.

Flames burn the brush as the Blue Cut fire roars through the Cajon Pass on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

A freight train is threatened by flames from the Blue Cut fire as it makes its way through the Cajon Pass on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

Flames chew through heavy brush near railroad tracks left vacant by the Blue Cut fire in Cajon Pass on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

A helicopter makes a water drop on the Blue Cut fire burning in the Cajon Pass on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

A tanker drops fire retardant on the Blue Cut fire burning in the Cajon Pass on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

Firefighters battle the Bluecut Fire along Cajon Boulevard in the Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino, California, Tuesday August 16, 2016.

A brush fire burning in Devore has shut down I-15 in both directions.

Vehicles burn off of Highway 138 as the Blue Cut Fire rages through San Bernardino County Tuesday August 16, 2016. The fire has scorched at least 18,000 acres and forced 82,000 people to evacuate their homes in San Bernardino County.

A massive wind-driven wildfire devoured 18,000 acres and an unknown number of buildings with “bewildering” speed Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate and defying firefighters’ efforts to stop the spread.

Sheriff’s officials estimated they evacuated 34,500 homes – which equates to about 82,600 residents, according to the U.S. Forest Service – as the Blue Cut fire raced north. Authorities urged people to follow evacuation instructions, warning that the fast-moving fire posed an “imminent threat” to people and structures in the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Oak Hills and surrounding areas.

Fire officials had no estimate for how many structures burned and where, but homes were seen burning near Highway 138. Other casualties included the McDonald’s restaurant at I-15 and the 138, as well as the storied Summit Inn.

By Tuesday night, no portion of the fire’s perimeter had containment lines to keep the flames from spreading. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency.

“This fire is driven by vegetation, extremely dry brush and by the wind,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bob Poole said.

The winds had been pushing “more or less to the north” all day long, he said. The breezes of the day gave way to gusts after nightfall that threatened to spread the flames.

The Blue Cut fire was startling in its speed, said Char Miller, a professor at Pomona College who researches wildfires.

“It’s bewildering,” Miller said. “The fire is moving very, very quickly, and I think that’s one of the examples of the nature of fire this summer. This is in big measure because we’re in a deep drought. The drought, the weather and the temperature have come together in a way that’s, frankly, pretty scary.”

About 6 p.m. Tuesday, Poole estimated that 800 personnel were assigned to the fire, as well as 102 engines, 15 hand crews, eight helicopters and 10 tankers, which included both “very large air tankers” available.

Katherine Juarez took ownership of the Summit Inn, a Cajon Pass institution off I-15 at the Oak Hill Road exit, on July 1.

“Earlier today I didn’t think it was going to go down the way it did,” she said by phone Tuesday evening. “It is what it is.”

ON THE FIRELINES

Few people witnessed it, but an intense battle was fought along the 138 Tuesday evening.

Flames engulfed trees just a few feet from a house along the north side of the highway as an air tanker dropped a load of fire retardant on the opposite side of the road.

Just when it seemed that the house was history, two fire engines – from Colton and San Bernardino County fire departments – pulled up, and their crews stretched hoses to battle flames that burned into a backyard choked with dry grass. Then the wind picked up, fanning some flames to telephone-pole height and threatening power lines and the crews.

About that time, the phone pole caught fire, the situation soured and the firefighters had to back off.

A short walk down the highway, a similar battle was being fought at a neighboring home.

Again, the wind speed increased. By then, the dry grass around the first home was toast. But when the firefighters finished, both homes were still standing.

Not all homeowners in the area were so lucky.

“We have had buildings burn,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Chon Bribiescas said Tuesday night. But it was hard to count how many amid conditions that made observers feel they were viewing the world through a soda straw. “I was driving through flames.”

Adding to the problem, years of drought, the wind and a list of other factors mean that major Southland fires tend to burn fast and hot.

“And some of these folks have propane (tanks) and ammunition,” Bribiescas said. “We have to be very cautious about inserting our firefighters.”

He said officials assumed the periodic and numerous explosions they heard were exploding propane tanks.

Earlier Tuesday, six San Bernardino County firefighters defending homes and assisting with evacuations in the Swarthout Canyon area west of Cajon Pass were trapped by the fire, sheltering in a nearby structure. The fire burned an engine.

Two of those firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but both were released and returned to the fire line Tuesday afternoon, according to county fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.

Those two firefighters remained the only injuries reported by about 7:30 p.m., Bribiescas said.

MASSIVE FIRE

The Blue Cut fire was reported just after 10:30 a.m near Kenwood Avenue in the Cajon Pass, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The cause is not known.

Weather conditions in the area were ideal for fire: temperatures close to 100, humidity at 5 percent or less for most of the afternoon and wind gusts up to 20 mph.

Within eight hours, the Blue Cut fire had burned more than the nearby Pilot fire did in its first four days. That fire topped 8,000 acres, but was declared 100 percent contained Tuesday morning.

As the Blue Cut fire eventually reached 18,000 acres by late Tuesday – more than 28 square miles – the evacuations covered a wide swath of the western San Bernardino Mountains and far eastern San Gabriel Mountains on either side of the Cajon Pass.

Among the major road closures were portions of I-15 and highways 138, 38 and 395.

BNSF Railway Co. shut down train operations through the Cajon Pass in both directions, said spokeswoman Lena Kent.

“We do have a train that is close to the fire that is in the process of safely being moved away from the area,” she said.

The Associated Press reported that a freight train was stopped by the fire and its crew had to flee.

FIRE PART OF ‘A NEW NORMAL’

The fire is indicative of a trend of longer and worse fire seasons, said Miller, the Pomona College professor.

“The pattern suggests we’re in what people are calling a new normal,” Miller said by phone. “This is not simply tied to drought. It’s partly because of climate change. As the season gets longer, that’s again linked to climate change. And that’s having a more dramatic effect because more people live in these areas than was true 20 years ago.”

Smoke led to unhealthy air quality in areas near Devore, the central and west San Bernardino Mountains and parts of the central San Bernardino Valley, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

People in areas affected by the smoke should avoid outdoor activity and run their air conditioners, the district advised.

Ryan Hagen covers the city of Riverside for the Southern California Newspaper Group. Since he began covering Inland Empire governments in 2010, he's written about a city entering bankruptcy and exiting bankruptcy; politicians being elected, recalled and arrested; crime; a terrorist attack; fires; ICE; fights to end homelessness; fights over the location of speed bumps; and people's best and worst moments. His greatest accomplishment is breaking a coffee addiction. His greatest regret is any moment without coffee.

Beatriz E. Valenzuela is an award-winning journalist who’s covered breaking news in Southern California since 2006 and has been on the front lines of several national and international news events. She’s worked for media outlets serving Southern California readers covering education, local government, entertainment and all things nerd including comic book culture and video games. She’s an amateur obstacle course racer, constant fact-checker, mother of three and lover of all things adorable.

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